March 27, 2014

More than 6 million Americans enrolled under the Affordable Care Act, White House says

Source: Washington Post

More than six million Americans have now signed up for private insurance under the Affordable Care Act, according to a White House official, with just four days to go until the end of its first open enrollment period.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/27/more-than-6-million-americans-enrolled-under-the-aca-wh-says/

March 27, 2014

General Assembly Condemns Russian Annexation of Crimea

Source: New York Times



In the first barometer of global condemnation of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Ukraine and its Western backers persuaded a large majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to dismiss the annexation as illegal, even as Russia sought to rally world support for the idea of self-determination.

The resolution — which garnered 100 votes in favor, 11 votes against, with 58 abstentions — represented the latest effort to isolate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the annexation.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/world/europe/General-Assembly-Vote-on-Crimea.html?emc=edit_na_20140327

March 27, 2014

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Courts Jeb in Sin City

At this week’s Republican Jewish Coalition conference, all eyes will be on Vegas mega-donor—and his very deep pockets.

Thursday’s conference at The Venetian in Vegas is technically called the “Republican Jewish Coalition Spring Leadership Meeting,” but the GOP presidential hopefuls on the guest list know it’s really Sheldon Adelson’s party.

The Las Vegas Sands Inc. chairman and GOP mega-donor is a member of the group’s board of directors.

The four-day affair begins with a VIP dinner at Adelson’s private hangar at McCarran Airport with featured speaker former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is weighing a possible White House run. Bush will undoubtedly benefit from plenty of face time with Adelson, who dumped nearly $100 million into the Republicans’ unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign.

Although there are always rumors the XX-year-old Adelson’s health is deteriorating, he remains a key figure in helping to finance the GOP’s next attempt at winning the nation’s highest office. While some RJC members and Republican donors will undoubtedly take advantage of the conference’s scheduled poker and golf tournaments, and even a top-shelf Scotch tasting, the real players will be courting the pugnacious gambling titan, whose successful casino interests in Macau and Singapore have helped drive his personal wealth to $37.9 billion as reported by Bloomberg.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/27/billionaire-sheldon-adelson-courts-jeb-in-sin-city.html

March 27, 2014

Global health success: India certified free of polio

Source: CNN

By Madison Park, CNN
11:36 AM EDT, Thu March 27, 2014

(CNN) -- India has been certified polio-free by the World Health Organization after going three years without an endemic case of polio. The eradication of polio in India is heralded as one of the biggest achievements in global health efforts.

The polio-free certification by the Regional Certification Commission came Thursday, along with a proclamation that Southeast Asia is free of the disease.

Just five years ago, India was home to nearly half the global polio cases and considered one of the most technically difficult places to eradicate the disease, because of sanitation challenges and high-density population.

India's last case was reported in a young girl paralyzed by polio in West Bengal in January 2011.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/health/india-polio-3-years/

March 27, 2014

Report Says Port Authority Official Told Christie of Lane Closings; Christie Doesn’t Recall

Source: New York Times


The Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closing at the George Washington Bridge said that he had he informed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey about it at a Sept. 11 memorial while the closings were occurring, according to an internal investigation released on Thursday by lawyers for the governor.

The official, David Wildstein, told Mr. Christie’s press secretary of the Sept 11 conversation at a dinner in December just before his resignation from the Port Authority, according to the report.

The report said that Mr. Christie did not recall any such conversation and finds no evidence that he was involved in the scheme, which snarled traffic for thousands of commuters in Fort Lee, N.J., from Sept. 9 through the morning of Sept. 12.

It was one of many revelations unearthed by the inquiry, commissioned by Mr. Christie’s office, into what prompted the lane closings and what role his administration played in it.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/nyregion/chris-christie-lawyer-bridge-scandal-report.html?emc=edit_na_20140327

March 27, 2014

WTF Is ‘Natural Marriage?’ - By Michelle Cottle

Michelle Cottle

When a group like the Family Research Council is losing a debate there's only one thing left to do: change the terms.

Today’s Politics 101 pop quiz: In the course of a fierce ideological battle, when it becomes clear that one side is getting its butt kicked, what are leaders of the losing team expected to do? A. Double down. B. Scare the crap out of their followers. C. Beg for money. D. All of the above.

No one really needs help with this one, do they?

So with public acceptance of gay marriage growing faster than Justin Bieber’s rap sheet, the culture warriors at the Family Research Council have been hawking their National Campaign in Defense of Natural Marriage. In multiple email calls to arms, FRC president Tony Perkins is urging people of “character and values” to “take a stand” by signing an on-line petition and, while they’re at it, donating a little something to this “counteroffensive.” By March 31, FRC wants—nay, “needs”—250,000 signatures and $1.1 million to “fund this demanding work of behalf of America’s families.” At that point, the e-petition will be deposited at the feet of the group’s latest hero, Sen. Ted Cruz, “in a public display of support for natural marriage.” Perkins pleads/warns/threatens: “I want to encourage you: natural marriage is not a lost cause in America—unless we give up and let the same-sex ‘marriage’ advocates have their way because we failed to stand up for what is right.”

Now, as a political obsessive subscribed to an unhealthy number of email lists, I receive a daily flood of overwrought solicitations from across the spectrum. Most I toss after a quick glance. But Perkins’s latest entreaties stopped me, not because of their tone or topic but because of their language. Specifically, I somehow missed the moment when “natural marriage” became the preferred term of anti-gay-marriage crusaders. (Sadly, despite several interview requests, the folks at FRC were unavailable to discuss this matter.)

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/27/the-family-research-council-s-natural-marriage-fight.html

March 27, 2014

Tea Party’s “absurd” socialism obsession: An actual Marxist sounds off

When the right claims that Barack Obama will implement socialism, it may actually be helping the cause it abhors

JOSH EIDELSON

“My hope is that we arrive at a common-ist revolution before we hit capitalist collapse,” novelist and essayist Benjamin Kunkel told Salon. In an era of Tea Party denunciations of Obama as a socialist, and increased mainstream talk about “capitalism” and Marx, Kunkel’s new book, “Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Crisis,” sets out “to contribute something in the way of intellectual orientation to the project of replacing a capitalism bent on social polarization, the hollowing out of democracy, and ecological ruin with another, better order.” Salon spoke with Kunkel about feminism’s relationship with Marxism, radicals’ relationships with reformers, and Michele Bachmann’s “quite absurd” warning’s about Obama socialism.

At the start of your book, you say that for a long time your “belief in my beliefs” was weakened by an “ideological consensus” that “socialism of any kind was a recipe for political oppression and shoddy goods, whereas free markets could be counted on to foster democracy and other forms of consumer choice.” Why don’t you believe that?

I think that it’s pretty clear that in Western countries in the 19th century … a conflict between democracy and capitalism was widely recognized. And the fact that the socialist movement came to be associated in the 20th century with these party-state dictatorships meant that the natural affinity, as I see it, between socialism and democracy was forgotten about by a lot of people.

But capitalism clearly leads to these enormous concentrations of wealth, which are fundamentally incompatible with democratic liberalism over time … The concentration of wealth leads to a real inequality of opportunity, of course, that is not really compatible with democracy — and obviously it tremendously distorts democracy in the sense of the expression of the popular will. As we see in this country, where we’ve more or less formalized the democratic dictatorship of capital through our campaign finance system …

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/27/tea_partys_absurd_socialism_obsession_an_actual_marxist_sounds_off/

March 27, 2014

Tragedy for Republicans: More people will be getting health insurance!

A new grace period for Obamacare enrollment means many will now be covered -- and the right couldn't be more upset

BRIAN BEUTLER

Putting it out there now: By May 1, enrollment in ACA-compliant health plans through federally facilitated and state-based exchanges will hit the symbolic 7 million mark, and conservatives will whine that it doesn’t count because something something.

I’ll even go way out on a limb and put five whole dollars on it.

My confidence stems from the Obama administration’s decision, announced Wednesday, to create a grace period of sorts for people who have attempted to apply for coverage on healthcare.gov but got sidelined along the way.

This would annoy and delight conservatives under any circumstances, just as every Obamacare delay and exception annoys and delights conservatives. But what genuinely pisses them off in this circumstance is that the administration has set up a system that’s deliberately easy to game, for the purposes of increasing enrollment.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/27/a_tragedy_for_republicans_more_people_will_be_getting_health_insurance/

March 27, 2014

Poll: Ukraine crisis hurts Obama approval ratings

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign policy used to stand out as a not-so-bleak spot in the public’s waning assessment of Barack Obama. Not anymore. He’s getting low marks for handling Russia’s swoop into Ukraine, and more Americans than ever disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Despite the poor performance reviews, Obama’s primary tactic so far — imposing economic sanctions on key Russians — has strong backing.

Close to 9 out of 10 Americans support sanctions as a response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the poll indicates. About half of that group says the U.S. sanctions so far are about right, while the other half wants to see them strengthened, the AP-GfK poll found.

Most Democrats say the sanctions were OK, while a majority of Republicans find them too weak.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/03/27/poll_ukraine_crisis_hurts_obama_approval_ratings/

March 27, 2014

Obama: End collection of Americans’ phone records

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is asking Congress to end the government’s bulk collection of people’s phone records.

Obama says American’s phone records should remain with the phone companies and not be held at the National Security Agency for five years, as has been the practice.

The White House hopes Congress will pass new legislation within three months.

Obama promised to make changes to the controversial surveillance program after the public was outraged to learn the extent of domestic collection. The details were revealed last year by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/03/27/obama_end_collection_of_americans_phone_records/